Why Class Size Matters

Mat Pilates is a very well-known and popular form of exercise. It has many benefits and can be adapted to suit the needs of the students. Students only need to bring their mats to class, sometimes not even that, making it a very accessible and affordable option.

You can easily find classes in your area whether it’s at a gym, a fitness studio, or an independent teacher working out of community halls.

It is wonderful that more and more people are finding and experiencing the benefits of Pilates. However, just doing Pilates isn’t enough; you need to be doing Pilates correctly in order to get the full benefits.

Concentrate on the correct movement each time you exercise, lest you do them improperly and thus lose all vital benefits

Joseph Pilates

Originally, Pilates or Contrology as it was known focused on restoring functional movement to the body in order to improve strength, flexibility, balance, mobility, and posture.

To achieve that you need a teacher that can guide and correct individual students. The easiest way to receive that would be through private sessions where you have all of the teacher’s attention, but that is not for everyone and many people would opt for group classes.

I’m going to be blunt; you cannot get individual corrections suited to your body and your needs in a large class.

You will receive cues from your teacher to guide your through the exercises and they will correct unsafe movements. If you have a large number of people it is difficult to keep an eye on everyone which means students don’t get that personalised attention.

A single cue will not work for everyone because we all have different bodies, different limitations, and different learning styles. In order to fully benefit from Pilates you need to be getting directions tailored to you and your body.

I have always run small classes. Smaller classes allow me to keep track of everyone and offer variations to exercises that would better benefit the individual. I can watch my students perform movements then offer corrections to improve the quality of the movement, or offer variations if I know a movement might twinge an injury, above all else it means I can ensure my students are practicing safely.

Pilates is a safe form of exercise, however, if you do a movement incorrectly then you can injure yourself. It is important to me that my students gain the full benefits of Pilates in a safe, accessible and inclusive way and I can only do that by limiting my class size.